Noticeboard

Dear Patients,

We are now offering extra alternative appointments under the GP Alliance on Monday - Friday afternoons and evenings and Saturday and Sunday all day. The appointments are based at three different GP surgeries (Beckenham, Orpington and Bromley) where a GP can see you with your usual records. Please speak to reception for details.

Please look out for information by the practice regarding sharing electronic information between Hospitals, GP's and Community Care via the Local Care Record.

Please note it is a NHS requirement that all patients are allocated a named GP who is responsible for the patients overall care at the practice. Please contact the practice should you wish to know who your named GP is. If you have a preference to who your named GP is then the practice will make reasonable efforts to accommodate this request however please may we re-iterate you can still see whichever GP you wish and not only your named GP. If you have any questions then please ask at the reception desk or call the surgery.

Many thanks

Did you know we have a formal PPG Group called The Links Patient Participation Group? Our PPG Chair for The Links Patient Participation Group is Roger Ballaster. Ask for more details if you are interested in joining.

We are now up and running with a Text Messaging Service.We have the facility to use the above service to contact you by sending SMS Text Messages to your mobile phone.

To ensure this service is used to its full advantage, can we please ask you to check your mobile number is correct on our records, this can be done via the reception desk or telephoning us on 0208 461 3333 if you are a Downham patient or 0208 857 0011 if you are a Mottingham patient.

However if you would not like to be part of this service and have not already responded to the text we sent out “Dear Patient, The Links Medical Practice is introducing a FREE patient messaging service. To opt out, text STOP to 07800008113” then please let reception know so we can ensure you do not receive any text messages.

As of Monday 1st December 2014, we added the 'Friends and Family Test' survey to our website. There are 3 simple questions for you to answer. This survey will provide a quick snapshot of what our patients think, and how we can improve our patient care and practice services.

The survey is located under the heading 'Have Your Say', on the right hand side of the website home page.

We look forward, to receiving your views.

111 nhs service.

The new national telephone advice service '111' has come to Bromley.This service has replaced NHS Direct and is the contact number for patients at certain times of the day when the surgery is closed.Please telephone the surgery and listen to the surgery answer phone message for details.

Thank you.

APPOINTMENT OPTIONS

We have Saturday morning appointments once a month and evening appointments every other week on a Monday at Mottingham and Wednesday at Downham which are bookable in advance .

You may also book a telephone appointment if you wish to discuss an ongoing medical problem.Please try and book with your usual Dr when requiring treatment for an ongoing problem. Telephone appointments are not suitable for new diagnosis and complex problems.

We have a 'medical pod' in the waiting area at each surgery. This is for use by patients who are not already on treatment for blood pressure. Please ask reception for a free token and you may use the machine to record your weight, height and blood pressure. The machine speaks instructions but it DOES NOT speak out your weight. At completion the machine will print two tickets with the weight height and blood pressure readings. Please put your name on the slip, tick whether you are a smoker or not and hand one of the copies in to reception.We can use this information to update your records. Please note that if the blood pressure reading falls outside a set range the receptionist may ask you to have your blood pressure checked again by a health care assistant.

Emergency Summary Care Record

NHS EMERGENCY CARE SUMMARIES

NHS Summary Care Records have been introduced to improve the safety and quality of patient care. Because the Summary Care Record is an electronic record it will give healthcare staff faster, easier access to essential information about you, to help provide you with safe treatment when you need care in an emergency or when your GP practice is closed.

If you decided to have a Summary Care Record it will contain important information about any medicines you are taking, allergies you suffer from, and any bad reactions to medicines that you have had as long as your GP is aware of this. Your Summary Care Record will also include your name, address, date of birth and your unique NHS number to help identify your correctly.

Access to your Summary Care Record will be strictly controlled. By law, everyone working for us or on our behalf must respect your confidentiality and keep all information about you secure.

You can choose to have a Summary Care Record: You do not need to do anything. This will happen automatically.

You can choose not to have a Summary Care Record: If you don't want a Summary Care Record, you need to let your GP practice know by filling in and returning a signed and dated opt out form.